Sustainability and Competitiveness in Thai Rubber Industries

Abstract

This article assesses the economic, legal and environmental conditions that Thai rubber farmers face and evaluates actions they can take to increase incomes.Statistical analyses determine relationships between prices of oil, natural and synthetic rubber. Pearson correlation tests found a strong positive relationship (r = 0.887) between the price of Brent crude and Thai ribbed smoked sheets, and a moderate positive relationship between price changes in Brent and synthetic rubber (r = 0.648). Regression analysis showed Brent oil price is a good predictor of natural rubber price. Moderate to strong positive relationships were also found between natural rubber price and the gross domestic products of Japan, China and the United States. Criminal antitrust behaviour in the rubber industries appeared to interfere with normal pricing in rubber markets. No significant bivariate correlation was found between rainfall in Thailand and natural rubber price, production or export, although fl ooding and other environmental issues clearly affected rubber farms. A survey of options showed that Thai rubber farmers can best improve their livelihoods through the collective purchase and use of new technologies and by integrating into downstream supplychain industries. At the very least, farmers are urged to abandon monocrop methods and supplement their incomes with fruit, fi sh, livestock or pigs.

The Effect of Domestic Consumption on Natural Rubber Farmgate Price in Indonesia

“…Kumar, Pinto, Hawaldar, Spulbar, & Birau (2021) also found that futures oil prices were affected in the short run by natural rubber prices in India, and a similar case occurred in the case of China (Zhang & Qu, 2015). Meanwhile, in the case of Thailand, there is a strong positive relationship between natural rubber and crude oil price (Tanielian, 2018).…”

Evaluation of the Knowledge and Attitude of Using Personal Protective Equipment among Rubber Farmers in Southern Thailand

“…Table 2 demonstrated that there are five duties of activities in the plantation, specifically: 1) planting; 2) tree maintenance; 3) protection against disease and insects; 4) tapping; and 5) cutting. Almost all participants have worked in the tapping process (93.16%) which involves three main tasks: tapping, collecting, and transportation [22].…”

“…It is a fact that the occupation of Thai citizens in this area is farming, as they have rubberwood plantations. Rubberwood is one of the most significant species for Thai economics exclusively in rubber latex [22]. The farmers usually collect natural rubber by the tapping technique normally at about 3-6 am, from rubber trees that provide more resin product.…”

Performance and Forecast of Indonesian Rubber Exports to the Central European Countries

“…Thailand has several rubber development policies, like conducting research on drought-resistant plant breeding, developing production technology, increasing the rubber and tire products industry's competitiveness, and integrating into downstream industries. As a result, Thai rubber production is favorable [33,34].…”